The present invention relates to a paint/stain stick with a pad for painting and staining floor-level flat surfaces by an operator while standing upright, and more particularly, to a paint/stain stick pad with a roller/pad applicator for coating cracks between boards.
Referring to FIG. 1, paint/stain sticks 26 for coating decks, docks and other flat surfaces are well known and commonly used as they do not require the operator to kneel or bend over when coating a deck 12. Deck 12 is generally comprised of wooden boards 14 with joints 16 therebetween which either maybe tight 18, small 20 or large 22.
Stain stick 26 is handled by operator 28 while in the standing position. Stick 27 includes plunger 28 which telescopes into reservoir 32 which has an uptake port 34. At the end of the reservoir 32 is a swivel or gimbal joint 36 to which is connected the paint or stain pad 38. The reservoir 32 and the pad 38 are in flow communication. Stain pad 38 has short bristles or felt-like material 40 on its bottom side for spreading of the paint or stain.
In operation, the operator pushes the plunger in all the way. Then he places an uptake stem into the uptake port 34 and lowers the stem into a paint container. After which the operator pulls the plunger 28 up and out of the reservoir 32 drawing paint into the stain stick 26. Thereafter, the operator pushes the plunger 28 inward into the reservoir 32 which displaces paint out on to the bristles 40 which is moved over the deck 12 to spread the paint.
The stain stick 26 works well for flat deck surfaces but does not work well for tight vertical surfaces as in joints 16, 18, 20, 22. U.S. Pat. No. 4,742,597 is a paint roller that addresses groves in siding. This roller is of very limited use as it would not work well on deck joint vertical surfaces and would unevenly loads up on paint when dipped and rolled in a paint roller pan. U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,192,210 and 7,325,900 are both for a deck stain applicator with two sets of permanently offset stiff bristles for coating deck gaps or vertical deck surfaces. Disadvantageously, this applicator requires the bristles to always be in a deck joint or gap for the applicator to be operational. If the deck boards are wide or tight together with no joints, this applicator will not work at all.
There is a need for a stain stick with a pad structure that will coat decks with tight or no joints as well as decks with small to large joints without any modifications.